Howdy Neighbors!

During a visit to Express Ranch in Oklahoma, Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins delivered a comprehensive address on the USDA’s efforts to defend American agriculture from what she called “threats.” She opened her remarks by acknowledging that American ranchers are “among the most resourceful and resilient individuals in our nation”. Her visit focused on the federal government’s response to the New World screwworm, which she described as a “worrisome threat”.

The parasitic fly larva, which can be deadly to livestock and other animals, has made a comeback in South and Central America. According to Rollins, a recent human case in Maryland involving an individual who had traveled from El Salvador served as “yet another flag” for why the USDA must take the threat seriously.

Beyond the screwworm, Rollins addressed the current state of the agricultural economy, calling it a “perfect storm” for producers. She highlighted the rising costs and a collapse in export markets, particularly as China has put in “zero purchase orders” for key commodities. She stated that the USDA team is working on options that “need to be ready to roll out very soon” to address the trade deficit.

Allendale’s Rich Nelson joined associate farm reporter Carli Davenport to break down the latest USDA report, which delivered a mixed bag for corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, and livestock markets.

Wheat: Watching Russia Closely. The wheat market’s focus has shifted overseas. Russia’s crop has been consistently revised higher by private analysts, with estimates now around 87 million tons—well above USDA’s August figure of 83.5. “USDA took a first step in addressing this issue,” Nelson said, raising its estimate to 85.0 million tons. However, he cautioned that “we are going to have a little trouble on the export side, as Russia steps back into the export market."

Corn Market: Acres Surprise Again. Corn grabbed attention with another surprise increase in planted acres. “Over two months, they’ve added 3.5 million to the prior June 30 acreage survey,” Nelson explained. While yields fell slightly, dropping 2.1 bushels per acre, that reduction was “more than offset by a net acreage increase.” The result was little change in ending stocks, holding steady near 2.11 billion bushels. Nelson reminded listeners of last year’s trend, where USDA “surprised the trade with light increases on the September yield number” despite dry weather, only to cut yields later in November and January.

Soybeans: Small Shifts, Stable Outlook

Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster Ron Hays continues his conversation with Industry Consultant Dr. Nevil Speer, who emphasized that the strength of the cattle industry continues to rest on the consumer’s willingness to pay for beef. “Not only has the consumer not deserted us, they keep rewarding us. It’s just been an amazing story that we’ve seen.” He noted that for over a decade, producers have been asking when the consumer would finally back away because of high prices, yet “they never have. Here they are rewarding us with record high prices.” According to Speer, this reflects both unprecedented demand and the industry’s ability to deliver “the very best product they’ve ever been able to purchase.”

According to recent reports, USDA Prime accounts for 12.6% of carcasses today, with combined USDA Choice and Prime reaching 84%. While higher quality cattle flood the market, the Select supply continues to drop. Despite inflation, consumers continue to prioritize taste and freshness over price, reinforcing the value of high-quality beef, delivering record returns back to cattle producers. 

Speer underlined that profitability in the cattle business ultimately flows directly from the customer. “That’s exactly right. Otherwise the cattle don’t have any value. So consumers, my favorite phrase is, consumers are the business, and we have to continue to remind ourselves of that.” For him, the “payday” only exists because the consumer chooses beef, and that choice sustains the entire industry.

AFR President Scott Blubaugh recently returned from the organization’s annual fly-in to Washington, D.C., where he and 17 members delivered a unified message to Congress and the administration. Farm Director, KC Sheperd, caught up with Blubaugh after he got back to talk about his trip, “It is the ag economy, it is the ag economy, it is the ag economy,” to address the agricultural economy crisis.

Blubaugh reported a stark contrast in economic conditions across different sectors of Oklahoma agriculture. He noted that “our cow calf guys are doing very, very well for a change,” finally able to pay off old debts. However, for grain and cotton farmers, it’s the opposite. They are “losing money hand over fist with rising production costs and at the very same time, a collapse in our export markets”.



According to Blubaugh, the cash markets have been “devastated” because major buyers, like China, have backed away from purchases. This has left a significant amount of grain in storage from the past two years, with nowhere to put the fall harvest. As a result, farmers are “upside down in every one of these commodities by a long way” and need immediate assistance.

The 2025 September USDA Crop Production report shows all of the spring planted crops in Oklahoma are looking at higher yields and bigger production versus 2024. They are led by the 2025 Oklahoma Cotton Crop– with 275,000 acres expected to be harvested this fall from the 390,000 acres planted this spring- with the September report estimating 820 pounds per acre of yield- that could bring in 470,000 bales, up from the 270,000 produced in 2024- that production is 74% bigger than the 2024 cotton crop in the state.

The spring crop that saw the most acres planted in 2025 across the state was corn with 540,000 acres planted. Farmers are now expected to harvest 460,000 acres for grain with a yield predicted by USDA of 130 bushels per acre netting 59.8 million bushels, 48% larger than the 2024 crop.

Soybeans saw the biggest drop in planted acres across the state in 2025- with farmers planting 27% fewer acres in Oklahoma in 2025 versus 2024- 370,000 acres were planted to soybeans this spring, with 320 thousand acres expected to be harvested this season. Despite a twenty one percent drop in harvested acres this year versus 2024- farmers raising 29 bushels per acre versus just 230 BPA last year is resulting in a 9.28 million bushel crop- slightly higher than the 8.1 million bushel crop of 2024.

Governor Kevin Stitt announced three key strategic appointments to strengthen leadership, drive operational excellence, and reinforce governance across his administration as he concludes his final year and a half as Oklahoma’s 28th governor.

“We successfully launched this administration by bringing a fresh set of eyes from Oklahoma’s business community, and we will finish the same way. These three outstanding Oklahomans bring diverse strengths: Dustin’s trusted leadership and negotiation prowess, David’s operational acumen, and Donelle’s strategic vision,” said Gov. Kevin Stitt. “Together, they elevate the capacity of my administration as we push forward on our agenda, and I am confident we can continue to deliver lasting results for the people of Oklahoma.”

Senior Advisor: Dustin Hilliary, co-owner of Hilliary Communications and a respected figure in Oklahoma’s business and civic landscape, will serve as Senior Advisor to the Governor and chief negotiator with state legislators and elected officials, effective immediately. David Ostrowe returns to the Governor’s office as Chief Operating Officer and Secretary, where he will drive cabinet coordination and support agency directors statewide, effective immediately. Donelle Harder will serve as Secretary of State effective Oct. 1.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins announced eligible livestock producers will receive disaster recovery assistance through the Emergency Livestock Relief Program for 2023 and 2024 Flood and Wildfire (ELRP 2023 and 2024 FW) to help offset increased supplemental feed costs due to a qualifying flood or qualifying wildfire in calendar years 2023 and 2024. The program is expected to provide approximately $1 billion in recovery benefits. Sign-up begins on Monday, September 15. Livestock producers have until October 31, 2025, to apply for assistance.

“We are providing continued support for livestock producers whose livelihoods and way of life have been disrupted by catastrophic floods, wildfires, and poor forage conditions in 2023 and 2024. Under President Trump’s leadership, USDA is standing shoulder to shoulder with America’s farmers and ranchers, delivering the resources they need to stay in business, feed their families, and keep our food supply strong,” said Secretary Brooke Rollins.

“This announcement builds on the Supplemental Disaster Relief Program (SDRP) and the historic levels of assistance we have rolled out over the last few months, once again proving that this administration is working as quickly as possible to get help out the door and into the hands of livestock and dairy producers. USDA will continue to put farmers first and ensure they have the relief they need to weather storms and build for the future.”

In recent weeks, USDA officials have publicly denied concerns posed by the Nationa Association of Farmer Elected Committees (NAFEC), that FSA offices are critically understaffed. However, at recent meetings with leaders from the Farm Service Agency, they have indicated staffing levels of county office employees are now under 6,000, as compared to several thousand more, just a few years ago.

“NAFEC has County Committee members in every county in the nation and the word we are consistently hearing is our county office staffs are critically understaffed, said Jim Zumbrink, President of NAFEC, a Grain and Turkey grower from Ohio. As such, our staff will find it very difficult to perform the complex work of the new Farm Bill, combined with Disaster programs and ongoing programs, with the speed agriculture producers in America, both expect and desperately need.”

These same USDA officials recently cited the speed FSA offices issued disaster payments as the reason FSA offices are not understaffed. However, according to NAFEC, USDA failed to give an accurate picture of what it takes to get to the point of issuing payments. A full years’ worth of work in FSA offices allowed the Administration to quickly send out checks, based upon all of the work already performed in 2024 and 2025. For the new programs, this work is yet to be performed, and FSA cannot just send out checks for new programs without having on file acreage reports, eligibility forms, farm record updates, leases, etc.

Checking the Markets...

On Friday- October live cattle closed $2.30 lower at $229.97, December live cattle closed $2.20 lower at $231.92 and February live cattle closed $2.02 lower at $233.22. It is important to note that the spot October contract did, unfortunately, close below the market’s 40-day moving average, which could mean that this coming week the market could see continued downward pressure, as technically speaking, that’s a negative signal. A few more cash cattle sales developed throughout the week, but prices held steady with the week’s trend. Throughout the week, Southern live cattle traded at mostly $240, which is $2.00 lower than last week’s weighted average and Northern dressed cattle traded at $375 to $378, which is $5.00 to $8.00 lower than last week’s weighted average. The $240 paid for cattle in the southern plains was confirmed in the Texas Cattle Feeders weekly market report.

Boxed beef values slid again Friday, marking the seventh consecutive day of declines and the lowest level since August 15th. Over that stretch, the cutout has fallen $15.97. Choice cutouts dropped 75 cents to $400.05/cwt, while Select fell $1.61 to $378.44/cwt, with the choice/select spread now at $21.60. 

The Oklahoma National Stockyards had 5,163 head on the yards as of 9 pm Sunday evening. The sale will start at 8:00 am.

OKC West is our Market Links Sponsor- they sell cattle three days a week- Cows on Mondays, Stockers on Tuesday and Feeders on Wednesday- Call 405-262-8800 to learn more.

Click here for our Markets Page on OklahomaFarmReport.Com- there you will find many of the reports we have linked on the right hand column found on the previous format of our email.

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